Android & Chill
One of the web’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday discussion of Android, Google, and all things tech.
Google is fighting again. Imagine that.
I knew late last week this was going to become “a thing” when all of Disney’s content, including ESPN and ABC, went out on YouTube TV. And then when Google declined to have any sort of emergency ABC coverage of the U.S. Election, I knew it was going to be more and turn into a “long drawn out stupid thing” where the only have-nots were the actual customers.
It’s like fighting with your neighbor over who has to mow that little patch of grass, unproductive and petty, except it affects about 10 million more people. And none of it is about you and me. It’s about — you guessed it — money.
I’ve been lost at sea for a week, so tell me what’s going on!?
I’ll assume that most anyone who cares about any of this already has the gist of it all, but here’s the quick take without any hot, spicy opinions or finger-pointing. Don’t worry, there is plenty of that later.
Disney and Google need to renegotiate the contract to carry Disney’s streaming media channels on YouTube TV. Negotiations aren’t going very well, and as a result, Disney content has been removed. Disney’s content includes popular services like ESPN, ABC, and National Geographic, which are blacked out because, without a licensing agreement, Google is not allowed to stream the content on its popular service.
Through official channels, Google has claimed that Disney’s asking price is too high.
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Disney claims that Google aims to leverage its market position to devalue its content.
This seems familiar
An update for our members: We’ve reached a short-term extension with Paramount to keep their content on YouTube TV. Subscribers continue to have access to Paramount channels, including CBS. We appreciate your patience as we continue to negotiate on your behalf.… https://t.co/xMAs8m6jFUFebruary 14, 2025
I’m not involved in any negotiations between Google and Disney. I’m not even allowed to decide where to eat when the wife and I go out with friends. However, it is my job to monitor what Google does, compare it to what it says, and play the game of trying to make sense of it all. Here’s what I see.
Google aims to generate more revenue by hosting Disney’s content. It won’t likely carry any savings on to the subscriber, and it will all go in the vault somewhere (Google passes “rising content costs” to the consumer).
Disney wants to generate more revenue from selling its streaming content and knows “market abuse” is a hot term to throw out whenever Google is involved. That’s Google’s own fault for not being good enough to get away with it, I guess.
My tip of the week — guaranteed lock, bet the whole damn farm — is that neither company has any interest in making your monthly bill any cheaper.
Maybe I’m too cynical, but from what I can see, it’s always that way. How much better are things for you now that Tim Sweeny and Epic had a big win? Did prices go down? Are lions lying with lambs?
The same can be said about every fight, courtroom or otherwise, between companies that spend more on toilet paper every year than we’ll ever earn. That’s because we’re simply the pawns in their game.
The pawn is important in a chess match because there are so many of them that they become expendable assets. You can sacrifice a few if it helps you get closer to your goal.
Google and Disney love knowing that around 10 million people watch Disney content on YouTube TV, but they would be just as happy if the same amount of money were spread among just 9 million people. The money is what’s important, not each subscriber.
I say things like this a lot, and people often think I’m some sort of lunatic communist who is one more magic mushroom away from screaming anarchy and burning things down. Now that sounds kind of cool, but it’s not entirely true; I’m okay with knowing that this is how big business works.
People invest with the notion that they will earn from it, and the business world turns. I just want them all to admit to it; Google and Disney aren’t charities or humanitarian when it comes to streaming football games or princess movies, after all.
It’s our responsibility to remember this. Some companies attempt to convey the impression that they want to make the world a better place and claim that their products can help achieve this goal. Others leverage the fact that we enjoy their creations, and the time spent watching them makes us happier.
This is all true, but it overlooks the primary reason the companies exist and why they are willing to use you in their disputes. Money. Disney would never give us another Star Wars movie or send a Nat Geo team to film something amazing if it thought it wouldn’t make a ton of cash. Google would never build another service or product if it didn’t think it could use them to drive more revenue.
We can fight back
Remember when I said a pawn was useful because there are so many of them? Then you understand the only thing you can do when the broken promises and PR doublespeak become too much. Tell them NO.
Don’t give Google that $80 every month for YouTube TV. Don’t pay to stream Disney content. Wean yourself from American football or watch highlights on free YouTube channels. A faceless company won’t even pretend to care, but if enough people do it, then everything changes. People are leaving YouTube TV right now due to the current spat with Disney. Google says that subscriber churn is “manageable,” which is PR speak for “We are still making money.“
It wouldn’t be manageable if half the people decided a paltry credit from Google isn’t making up for the lack of what they want to watch and sent YouTube TV down the road. It sounds like Quixote rushing a windmill, but imagine thousands or even millions of Quixotes and one great big windmill. Thou hast seen nothing yet.
Eventually, everything will go full circle. Remember how everyone used to get their media before big companies tried to make it “easy,” right?
FAQ
What is the core issue between Google and Disney?
The two companies are in a contract dispute over the licensing terms for carrying Disney’s streaming media channels on Google’s YouTube TV service.
Which channels were affected by the dispute?
Disney’s content, which includes ABC, ABC News Live, ACC Network, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, ESPN, ESPNews, ESPNU, ESPN2, Freeform, FX, FXM, FXX, Localish, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, SEC Network, ESPN Deportes, Baby TV Español, and Nat Geo Mundo, was removed from the YouTube TV lineup as of October 30, 2025.
What is Google’s stated reason for the disagreement?
Google claims that Disney is trying to “force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers,” indicating that Disney’s asking price for the content is too high.
What is Disney’s position on the failed negotiations?
Disney asserts that YouTube TV and Google are “not interested in achieving a fair deal,” suggesting that Google is trying to leverage its market position to devalue Disney’s content.
